Tips for Organic Lawn Care


A debate that has long raged in the gardening community is whether or not organic fertiliser is better for lawns than commercially available chemical fertilisers. The truth is, used correctly they both have their merits, but if at all possible you should opt for organic. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that, but let’s see exactly why it’s the case.

Organic Fertiliser

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Green green grass – achievable either way, but how patient are you?

Organic fertiliser is composed of natural organic waste, typically originating from the same garden that it gets used on, as such it’s about as natural a solution as you could hope for. It breaks down naturally and feeds the lawn perfectly well. Its only real drawback being that it offers no artificial acceleration to the lawn growing process.

Chemical Fertiliser

Chemical fertilisers on the other hand have a whole host of unnatural ingredients that whilst great for achieving quick, luscious results, aren’t necessarily a great long term strategy if you want your lawn to stay healthy for many years without further intervention. Unfortunately some of the chemical compounds present in these synthetic fertilisers, such as arsenic, mercury and lead, can cause a gradual imbalance in the ecosystem of the lawn which is ultimately detrimental to its overall health and quality. Worse still, as more and more dosages of chemical fertilisers are applied, so levels of harmful chemicals will increase in the soil to the point at which they could even become harmful to people and animals as they pollute the surrounding ground water. The real rub here is that the chemicals will be present for decades, so you could be looking at a lifetime of problems if you’re not careful.

Besides the chemical imbalance issue, synthetic fertilisers often contain very high levels of salt, which has a binding effect on the clay present in soil. This prevents grass roots from penetrating the soil, thus stopping them from coming into contact with adequate nutrients and water. Incidentally this is much the same effect that salt and grime residue left behind by flood water can have if not washed away once the flood water has subsided.

Get Professional Advice

As a long term lawn care solution it’s therefore better to opt for natural fertilisers given their harmonious relationship with the lawn as a whole. If you do go down the route of hiring in professional lawn care services to apply chemical fertilisers, then by all means do so, we’re not outright dismissing that as a bad choice. It just helps to be informed of what you’re putting on your garden so that you can moderate your use of it accordingly, and at the very least at least you know that trusted professionals will apply a safe and legal amount of fertiliser to your garden

 

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